The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia is trying to regain the full $14m withdrawn during a technical glitch.

South Africa has selected UK power company Globeleq to build a standalone battery energy storage system, which will be the largest on the continent when completed.

A battery energy storage system stores excess electrical energy generated during peak production times.

It then supplies the stored energy to power grids when there is high demand or low energy generation.

The 153 MW/612 MWh-capacity project will be situated on five hectares (12 acres) in the Northern Cape province, and will be linked to the grid of state-run power company Eskom.

Globeleq expects it to be completed in 24 months, at a cost of 5.7bn rand ($305m; £242m).

"Electricity storage is going to be key in helping South Africa meet its considerable industrial and domestic demand for energy," Globeleq CEO Mike Scholey said in a statement on Friday.

The project is part of South Africa's efforts to address its power crisis, which is partly caused by insufficient electricity generation.

In recent years, power cuts, referred to as load-shedding, have caused much frustration, with homes going without power for up to 16 hours.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, Shingai Nyoka/BBC

Zimbabwe has introduced a new gold-backed currency called ZiG.

Central bank governor John Mushayavanhu said the ZiG would be structured and set at a market-determined exchange rate.

ZiG stands for Zimbabwe Gold.

It's the latest attempt to try to stabilise an economy that has lurched from crisis to crisis for the past 25 years.

The US dollar, which accounts for 85% of transactions, will remain legal tender.

The notes come in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 200, the governor said.

Coins will also be introduced to overcome the shortage of US coins, which has seen people receive change in sweets, small chocolates and pens.

Zimbabweans have 21 days to exchange old, inflation-hit notes for the new currency.

Mr Mushayavanhu said the new currency will be implemented with immediate effect and banks must convert current Zimbabwe dollar balances to the ZiG.

It replaces a Zimbabwean dollar that has lost three-quarters of its value so far this year.

Zimbabwe has tried a variety of means to stabilise its currency - at one stage the bank was printing ten trillion dollar notes, as inflation ran out of control.

Image source, Getty Images

A cruise liner collided with a docked container ship at the Port of Cape Town in South Africa.

Ambassador Cruise Line confirmed that its vessel Ambience had an incident on Friday morning, according to News24.

Ambience bumped into the cargo ship as it was attempting to go into its docking site.

A spokesperson for Ambassador told News24 "Ambience was unable to maintain position in strong, gusting winds and made contact with the container ship".

Both ships sustained minor damages and no one was injured.

BBC World Service

Exiled opposition groups say Niger's military leader has scotched all hopes of a return to democracy after he abolished local councils.

General Abdourahamane Tiani sacked directly elected mayors and councillors (in all of Niger's 265 communes) late on Thursday, replacing them with his nominees.

The State Court will on Friday hear a request to strip the immunity from prosecution of the man he forced from office, Mohamed Bazoum.

Since the coup last July, General Tiani has pivoted Niger away from its former allies, France and the US, and built closer ties with Russia.

Last month he ordered US troops to leave the base from which they have been conducting operations against Islamists in the Sahel.

Image source, AFP

Angola’s Constitutional Court has overturned a five-year sentence that had been handed to the son of former President José Eduardo dos Santos for fraud.

José Filomeno dos Santos was sentenced in 2020 for his role in the illegal transfer of $500m (£378m) from Angola’s Sovereign Fund to a private account in the UK.

He appealed against the verdict in 2022.

In a ruling published on Thursday, the Constitutional Court declared his conviction as "unconstitutional", because it breached "the principles of legality, adversarial proceedings, a fair and consistent judgement and the rights of the defence".

The former leader's son, also known as Zenu, was the head of Angola's Sovereign Wealth Fund from 2013 to 2018.

He was sentenced alongside the ex-governor of Angola's national bank and three others.

The transfer of the money was agreed in 2017, in the last few weeks before his father stood down as president - after 38 years.

José Eduardo dos Santos was president from 1979 until he resigned in 2017, to be replaced by the man he had handpicked for the job, his former defence minister Joao Lourenço.

Image source, Getty Images

President Emmanuel Macron has said that France and other countries could have stopped the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where ethnic Hutu extremists killed more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

“France, which could have stopped the genocide with its Western and African allies, lacked the will to do so," Mr Macron said in a video message.

The video is set to be aired during the 30th commemoration of the Rwandan genocide on Sunday, President Macron's office said.

The event is set to be attended by several international guests including French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné and ex-US President Bill Clinton.

Relations between France and Rwanda have recently been on the mend, following years of tensions over France's alleged involvement in the genocide.

France has been accused of failing to do enough to stop the Rwanda genocide. French leaders have denied its complicity in the genocide.

However, in a 2021 visit to Rwanda, Mr Macron said that France had a duty to "recognise the suffering she has inflicted on the Rwandan people by too long valuing silence over the examination of the truth".

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

Authorities in Madagascar have asked the EU ambassador, Isabelle Delattre, to leave the island, following remarks she made that they said were critical of the government.

She reportedly criticised a new law - that was passed in February - for convicted child rapists to be surgically castrated.

The EU confirmed that the ambassador would leave her post in July or August.

A spokesperson for the embassy said they wanted good relations with Madagascar but warned of what he described as political and financial consequences.

The new castration law has faced criticism from international rights groups, but was supported by local activists who praised it as an appropriate deterrent to curb rape cases.

Richard Hamilton
BBC World Service newsroom

Image source, AFP

The authorities in Ivory Coast's biggest city, Abidjan, have announced a ban on begging to try to combat what they call urban disorder.

The city's Deputy Governor, Vincent N'cho Kouaoh, said begging in all its forms - including the use of handcarts - was forbidden in order to improve people's living conditions, ensure their safety and improve traffic flow.

In 2013, the interior ministry prohibited begging at street junctions, but it failed to curb the practice.

Attempts in other African cities have also resulted in a similar lack of success.

The latest ban follows mass evictions and demolitions in several of the city's slums.

The Ivorian capital is one of the most gridlocked cities in Africa with a population of about six million people.

Image source, Getty Images

South African filmmaker Michael Matthews says he is honoured that Beyoncé recognised his film as one of the inspirations for her new highly acclaimed country album, Cowboy Carter.

Last week, the US singer revealed that each track on the album drew inspiration from a different Western film, and that she often screened the films in the background while recording.

One of the films she named was Five Fingers For Marseilles, a 2017 contemporary Western directed by Matthews, and South Africa's first Western film.

“It’s a huge honour to have made a mark on an artist as bold and innovative as Beyoncé,” Matthews told South African newspaper The Sowetan., external

"And to be included among filmmaking royalty like [Quentin] Tarantino and [Martin] Scorsese," he continued, referencing Tarantino's The Hateful Eight and Scorcese's Oscar-winning Killers of the Flower Moon, which Beyoncé also cited among the influences for Cowboy Carter.

Matthews added that it was significant for Beyoncé to acknowledge a South African movie.

“The hope is that it leads to more eyes on the film around the world and on our incredible local films and filmmakers across the board.”

Nicolas Négoce
BBC News

Four opposition parties and a civil society group in Togo have called for mass protests next week to demonstrate against the delayed parliamentary and regional elections.

Political tensions have heightened following parliament's approval of a contested constitutional reform last week due to replace the presidential system with a parliamentary one.

Opposition parties have rejected the constitutional change, fearing it could let President Faure Gnassingbé stay in power.

President Gnassingbé has been in power since 2005, when he replaced his father who led the West African state for 38 years.

On Wednesday, the presidency announced the postponement of the country’s parliamentary elections, which were due to take place on 20 April.

The presidency did not say the new date for the polls, citing the need for more consultations over the reforms.

Opposition leader and Togo’s first female presidential candidate, Brigitte Kafui Adjamagbo Johnson, has told the BBC that the election delay is a "power grab" and is disappointed by this latest move.

"We’re not going to accept this, and we will fight against this constitution. It shouldn't be approved by the president".

Image source, Getty Images

Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio has declared a national emergency because of the rampant drug abuse in the country.

Kush, a mixture of additive substances with similar effects to cannabis and tramadol, has been prevalent in the country for years - especially in urban areas.

"Our country is currently facing an existential threat due to the devastating impact of drugs and drug addiction, in particular the devastating synthetic drug kush," President Bio said in an address to the nation on Thursday.

"This deadly kush is taking a devastating toll on our communities."

He said his government was working to dismantle drug trafficking networks in the country.

The drug - which is also known as K2 - is easily accessible to unemployed young people seeking an escape from poverty and traumas of life.

Health experts warn that kush intake can lead to permanent brain damage and suicidal actions.

In February, Sierra Leone's government established a rehabilitation centre for victims of drug abuse and set up a ministerial task force.

Sierra Leone's neighbours, Guinea and Liberia, are also fighting to contain an increase in kush consumption.

In Liberia, President Joseph Boakai declared drug abuse a public health emergency and announced a committee to tackle the "existential threat", during his first state of the nation address in January.

• LISTEN: What in the World podcast - Kush: The mystery drug that’s got Sierra Leone hooked

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The speaker denies soliciting bribes in return for contracts during her time as defence minister.

One of the oldest books in existence, according to auction house Christie's, could sell for $3.8m (£3m) in June.

Adra's dad, Abdel Meslem, says his daughter cannot return to Hull due to passport issues.

The two countries have been at loggerheads since January in a dispute over Ethiopia's access to the sea.

Kano's censorship unit says it wants to protect society as films play a huge role in shaping behaviour.

Ọpọ awọn ọdọ ni Naijiria lo ti lọ sori ayelujara lati fi ehonu wọn han lori bi wọn ko ṣe le kọ lati ṣe agunbanirọ ati bi ijọba ṣe kuna lati daabo bo wọn.